At one end of the spectrum, Facebook says it’s “simple” and “fun.” On the other end, some are saying it’s Facebook’s version of Google Wave. And just about everyone spent the weekend suggesting that it’s a “Gmail killer.” “It” is Facebook’s new, Whatever-you-do-don’t-call-it-email-but-hey-here’s-a-Facebook-email-address-for-you email and messaging system. Facebook says it’s more like chat; and it’s [...]

How well can the new Facebook Messages interact with other email services? Pretty much not at all, Facebook told me. You can export some addresses, and you can forward email into Facebook, but that’s about it. I spoke with Facebook’s director of engineering Andrew Bosworth after today’s Facebook press conference about the new Facebook Messaging [...]

There’s a lot of variety in the most popular content on Sphinn over the past week, ranging from PubCon coverage to a debate on social media vs. SEO and our regular “Discussion of the Week” feature about Google’s dominance of the search industry landscape. That discussion generated the most discussion on the site last week. [...]

Today, Facebook is widely expected to announce that it is offering email to its members. Will that be the case? We’ll all find out soon enough. I’ll be live blogging the Facebook event that begins at 10am Pacific Time. Stay tuned. As the event gets underway, I’ll be posting updates here. You can also watch [...]

In time for the holidays Google is making it possible for online (and mobile) shoppers to discover real-time product inventory in local stores. Google certainly isn’t the first company to make a run at this; there are multiple startups that have been working on bringing local product inventory online for a number of years. But [...]

Jason Weber is suing Google over how the Google Toolbar in the past sent data to Google even while the toolbar was turned off. The suit was filed on November 5th by Webner and his attorneys, KamberLaw, based in New York. The plaintiff is suing on his “personal” experience and claims that the toolbar was [...]

The Google Blog announced over the weekend that Google partnered with the National Hockey Leagues’s NHL.com to get real time hockey scores on Google. You can try this yourself for searching on [NHL] or your favorite team while the teams are on the ice. You will notice real-time scores, schedules and team standings plus easy [...]

You’ve made the case for advanced optimization, implemented loads of slick technology and deployed across some or all of your paid search programs. Did you do the right thing? Did you make more money? If so, how much more? To answer the question “did I make more money” implies a baseline. Trouble is, you don’t [...]

What’s the value of reputation to the success of your local business? In short: it’s priceless. Reputation is, essentially, what others say about you. And for years, reputation was mostly shaped and influenced by word of mouth and through advertising in yellow pages, broadcast and print media, and direct mail. That traditional model, however, has [...]

Do you have a topic you’d like to see covered in a session at SMX West on March 8-10, 2011? Something you’d like to see covered in depth, or a discussion of advanced strategies and tactics for getting the most out your search marketing campaigns? If so, we’d like to hear from you. Please head [...]

Search marketing firm iProspect has released the results of its most recent research study, attempting to quantify the value of digital media and the effect of branding on customers’ purchase paths. The key finding was that online digital media assets have considerable branding influence, and that specific combinations can significantly impact a brand’s success. The [...]

As part of my Life With Google TV series, I’ve been looking at other internet-to-TV devices. Previously, I reviewed Roku. Next up? The Boxee Box. If you’re already a fan of the Boxee software service, the device might be worth it. However, it left me underwhelmed. That may improve when Netflix & Hulu Plus support [...]

Four of Google’s highest-ranking executives will soon pick up equity awards valued at more than $50 million total, as well as 30% pay raises for 2011. Co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, along with CEO Eric Schmidt, will continue to collect $1 salaries, as they’ve been doing for many years. According to a new SEC [...]

While many parts of the global economy remain mired in the doldrums, the search marketing industry continues its pace of relentless, healthy growth, according to the recently released SEOmoz Industry Survey 2010. Compiling data from more than 10,000 respondents in 90 countries, the survey offers one of the most comprehensive views yet of the current [...]

Social Media vs. SEO: My Approach – Darren Rowse follows up on last week's debate with a post detailing his approach to balancing SEO and social media as a blogger. His bottom line: it depends what your goals are, who your target audience is, etc. Agreed.

5 Staggeringly Simple Ways to Create Custom Facebook Landing Tabs – Did you know? "Research from Jeff Widman of Facebook fan page consultancy BrandGlue estimates that 199 out of every 200 interactions (99.5%) come from the Wall. This means that almost nobody is coming back to your fan page after they visit it the first time." Jay Baer shares a handful of tools that make the first fan page visit more likely to convert.

YouTube Tries Being Topical Directory – On Wednesday, YouTube said that users can opt-in to an experimental service called "YouTube Topics on Search," an attempt to meld keyword queries with a topic-oriented directory.

BlogPress SEO Plugin: Spam! – This one is a couple weeks old, but contains a strong warning about a WordPress plugin that claims to help with SEO, but may actually get your blog hacked, penalized, and who knows what else.

Key Takeaways From Matt Cutts Talking At PubCon – We've had the PubCon round up post earlier on Sphinn, but this deserves special attention — and overview of interesting and some new things that Matt Cutts shared during his talk that will be of interest to SEOs.

SMX Advanced is the only conference designed exclusively for experienced paid search advertisers and SEOs. You'll participate in experts-only sessions and network with fellow internet marketing thought leaders. Check out the tactic-packed agenda!